Academy Roundup - January 24

The Dynamo Academy concluded their four-game road trip last weekend, with a match against Dallas Texans on the stadium field at the Univeristy of Texas - Dallas. The U-18s drew 1-1 behind a Christian Diaz goal and the U-16s fell 2-1.

The Dynamo U-18s came out strong against Dallas Texans, putting pressure on the backline and forcing the goalkeeper to make a few early saves. Houston got on the board first, when Christian Diaz (Cy Falls) knocked home a shot past a diving Ashkan Khosravi in the 17th minute. Dallas Texans came back, though, and evened the match on an Andre Reyes goal in the 32nd minute. Neither team was able to muster much offense in the second half and the game ended in a draw.

In the second match of the day, the Dynamo U-16s found themselves in an early 2-0 deficit after Jason Machado and Brandon Aubrey capitalized on Houston's mistakes. The Dynamo pulled one goal back, on an Elo Ozumba strike in the 50th minute, but the visitors could not pull any closer. With the loss, the Dynamo U-16s remain in sixth place in their division, but sit only two points back of a three-way tie for second place

In Pre-Academy League action, the Dynamo U-13s lost to Dallas Texans 1-0 and the U-14s lost 2-1. Adam Saleh scored the goal for the U-14s with an 18-yard strike in the 73rd minute.

All Academy and Pre-Academy squads will be off from league play this weekend, but the Dynamo U-18 squad - plus select U-16 players - will take on the Dynamo first team in a scrimmage, Saturday morning, at the Houston Amateur Sports Park. It will be the first organized match for the Dynamo first team in 2012, and a chance for the Academy players to test themselves against professional competition. The scrimmage will kick off at 10:30 a.m.